Bullets and Broken Shoes
by Avengers-x-Ace-Reader
Summary: Natasha x Reader. A spy-like mission with Natasha goes wrong, and the Reader ends up in cramped quarters with Nat to wait out the danger. Fluff. Reader is as gender-neutral as possible. (I'd just intended to start this story, but it ran away with me and I'm really happy with the result). One shot


The people in the room were bedecked with jewellery and reeked of danger; and Natasha was no exception. Her black dress was the most fashionable garment that Tony's money could buy, as were her rings, necklaces, and earrings. You were the only one who knew that her jewellery, much like the garter the high slit in her skirt kept revealing to the many drooling men in the room, hid enough weaponry to take out the whole hotel.

You on the other hand were Natasha's foil, dressed in a more subdued fashion to make her stand out that much more. You stuck close to the wall as you waited for her to come back with your drinks, and tried to covertly scan the room for your target.

"Relax, why don't you?"

You nearly made a rather undignified noise as Natasha appeared from seemingly nowhere next to you, and took the glass she offered you.

"Sorry." She said, smiling at your affronted look. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I don't know why you asked me to come in the first place." You said into your drink, using it to mask your mouth just in case someone in the room could read lips. "You know I'm no good at this sort of thing."

"I would have taken Rogers normally," she admitted, using her hand to mask her mouth by playing with her hair, "but I needed someone more flexible today."

"And now, let's go somewhere quieter." She said audibly as she took you by the hand while you blushed, causing many people in the room to eye you jealously. You dropped your eyes to the floor as Natasha lead you out onto the balcony, angling herself so she could see the doors that opened into the main room.

A fancy potted plant was directly to your right, and you dumped your drink into it on the sly. The plan was for you to appear intoxicated at some point as a distraction, and so far the unfortunate plants of the hotel had been the ones to consume your last four drinks apart from a sip to flavour your breath. You hoped that none of them would die from the double vodka martinis.

The big double doors opened with considerable fanfare and the two of you shared a quick look when you saw your target, before Natasha flicked open the clasp on her purse.

Someone else was after the same person though, and they apparently didn't want him alive.

Bullets were ricocheting from the marble posts and ninety percent of the guests were screaming in pain or fear; the other ten percent were emptying their clips to keep everyone's heads down while they made their escape. They might have left without further incident, but one of them noticed that the two of you were not only opening staring, neither of you looked afraid.

Natasha grabbed your arm and yanked you to the side, seconds before the assassins opened fire on you.

"Put your arms around me and hold on!" She yelled, jumping onto the ledge. And as soon as you complied, she launched you both from the balcony.

The wind whistling by your face made your eyes water and your stomach flip. Natasha pulled a gun from somewhere, and aimed it above your heads at the next building. She pulled the trigger and a line shot out, anchoring the two of you and causing you to swing towards the concrete wall. The line was still playing out and the ground was coming up fast, and Natasha had to yell to make herself heard.

"When I say 'now' let go and roll!"

There wasn't even enough time for you to ask her if she was out of her mind before the former spy let go of you.

"Now!"

You let go and tucked into a forward roll, skidding across the sidewalk without serious harm. You were mentally thanking Steve and Sam for drilling you over and over how to land on hard surfaces when you heard an ominous crack and Natasha swore behind you.

"Nat!" You cried out, running to her where she slumped against the side of the building. "Nat are you okay?!"

"Shh!" She smiled, and waved her shoe at you. "It wasn't me breaking."

The heel off her five inch stiletto had snapped off when she landed, and you breathed a sigh of relief when she held it out for your inspection. You helped her stuff it and her other shoe into her purse, and the two of you began a hurried zigzag toward the underground garage where the getaway car was parked.

You could hear the sound of your pursuers as the two of you raced down the levels, and you were almost ready to panic when Natasha halted abruptly in front of a midsize sedan.

"Get in quick." She whispered, and whipped open the hood of the trunk.

You hesitated for only a brief second before you heard voices approaching, and jumped in. Natasha followed you in a second, pulled the hood down and dove on you. She clamped her hand over your mouth, and you held your breath as the sound of footsteps stopped nearby.

Natasha was rubbing her thumb against your cheek, though her grip didn't slacken. Her skin was an odd mix of soft and tough, like suede leather, and you tried not to feel insulted that she didn't trust you to keep quiet. Although you thought it might just be force of habit; she even covered Clint's mouth on missions, after all.

After a tense ten minutes of silence after the footsteps had faded, Natasha took her hand away and rolled off you. There was a lot more room in the trunk than you would have thought from the outside, and after a bit of poking around you realized that the backseats had been hollowed out into just a covering, leaving ample room in the back of the car.

"So what now?" You asked Natasha, keeping your voice barely above a whisper.

"The original plan would be to drive back to base, but they're sure to have scouts waiting for us." She propped her head up on one hand, stretching her legs out. "And I can't drive aggressively with a sprained ankle."

"You sprained your ankle?"

"Mmhm. When I broke my shoe."

"Well let me look at it."

It took a little bit of work to get her foot propped on your lap, and you carefully set about binding her ankle with the medical tape from the first aid kit. Once you finished with her foot, Natasha used one of the antiseptic wipes on the scrapes on your arm and applied band-aids where needed.

The trunk was vented somehow so it wasn't stuffy, and you got comfortable. You rolled up one of the emergency blankets into a pillow for your head, and rolled onto your back with a sigh.

"The others will get us in the morning." Natasha reassured you, lying down beside you and smoothing down a bandage on your arm that was beginning to curl up.

"Alright."

The two of you lay in silence for a few minutes, until Natasha reached over and twined her fingers through yours.

"(Name)?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind me getting a little closer?"

"You mean…like snuggling?" You whispered, hardly daring to believe it.

"Yes." Natasha laughed, a quiet little huff of air against your ear as she sidled closer to you. "Snuggling."

"I don't mind at all." You managed to reply, and Natasha tucked herself against your side, one arm around your waist and her head tucked under your chin.

You put your arm around her, and you could feel her every inhale and exhale beneath you. It was easier to not be embarrassed when you could barely see and you tentatively began to play with a curl of her hair, causing her to make a contented noise and nestle tighter against you.

"It's too bad this night didn't go quite as planned." She sighed, her breath tickling your neck.

"Why?" You asked, wondering what could possibly be better than your current situation.

"My original equation included a goodnight kiss." She whispered, propping herself up so you could just make out the lines of her face in the dark of the trunk of the car.

"Well," you said with a blush starting to spread over your face as you checked the time on your phone, "there's still ten minutes to midnight."


End file.
